Sports

PSL 2019: Karachi Kings eliminated by Islamabad United

ICMD, March 14, 2019
Islamabad United defeated Karachi Kings by four wickets with three balls remaining in the Eliminator-1 of the Pakistan Super League 2019 at the National Stadium, Karachi on Thursday night.
They will now face Peshawar Zalmi in the Eliminator -2 to be played on Friday at the same venue where the winners of the two will play the final against Quetta Gladiators on Sunday (March 17 ) against at the same ground.
With this loss, the Kings have been kicked out of the tournament, whereas United are yet to secure a place in the finals, with one more face-off left to triumph in. United will need to defeat Peshawar Zalmi in Friday's eliminator match in order to advance on to the finals.
Karachi Kings innings
After winning the toss and deciding to bat first, the Kings got off to a strong start, securing 61 runs at the end of 5 overs.
The PSL noted on Twitter that it was only the second time in 32 matches of this PSL season that the captain winning the toss had elected to bat first. It was Karachi Kings who opted to bat first in the first instance as well.
They lost their first wicket in the fourth over, when Colin Munro was caught by Luke Ronchi off Muhammad Musa's bowling.
But before his exit, Munro contributed 32 runs off 11 balls in a blistering knock that saw him hit six 4s and a 6.
The Kings lost their second player in the 11th over as Livingstone was caught by Faheem Ashraf off Shadab Khan. He put 30 runs on the scoreboard in 25 balls.
The subsequent wicket to go down was that of Babar Azam who was edged out on Rumman Raees' delivery in the 12th over. He added 42 runs to the total off 32 balls.
Next to go was Colin Ingram on Muhammad Musa's delivery. He put up 23 runs off 16 balls.
Then in a domino effect, Iftikhar Ahmad and Dunk soon followed suit, ousted within 3 balls of one another. Iftikhar went on Musa's delivery after scoring a single run off two deliveries while Dunk was ousted by Faheem Ashraf at 12 runs off 11 balls.
In another upset, Aamer Yamin was run out by Muhammad Sami off Musa's delivery. He made an unceremonious exit having added only a single run to the scoreboard.
Umer Khan was next, going out for a duck, after being bowled out by Faheem Ashraf.
Usman Shinwari and Imad Wasim were under immense pressure at the end to pile more runs on for the side to bring the total up. Imad succeeded in scoring a total of 13 whereas Usman only managed a single run.
Muhammad Musa was the tormentor-in-chief from the United side bagging 3 wickets for 42 runs followed by Faheem Ashraf who took 2 for 30.
Islamabad United innings
United in comparison, got off to a rocky beginning with the loss of Ronchi early on and Deplort and Walton's wickets soon after but did well to recover with the stability provided by Hales who after replacing Ronchi stuck around till the 16th over, and was awarded man of the match for his solid contribution.
Ronchi, who was caught out at mid-on by Babar Azam at the end of 3 overs, scored 5 runs off 9 balls during his brief stint.
The next to go was Delport who was caught out at the boundary by Babad Azam off Umer Khan's delivery at 8.1 overs. He put up 38 runs off 27 balls.
Two balls later, Walton was out for naught after being caught behind by Dunk off Umer Khan's delivery.
The middle of the 13th oversaw some drama as Hales was thought to have been run out. The decision by the third umpire ruled in his favor after it was clearly visible that he made it back to the crease before the bails could be hit by Dunk.
Hales eventually got out on Aamer Yamin's ball in the 16th over but after putting up 41 runs off 42 balls with 5 fours and a six in the mix.
Hussain Talat was also crucial in putting up quick runs as he scored 32 off 19 balls alongside Hales. Talat was taken out by Shinwari's delivery with Babar Azam catching the ball at long on at the end of 17 overs.
Asif Ali, who remained standing till the very end, and Faheem Ashraf, took the match closer to victory with their stand of 24 and 17 runs respectively.
Ashraf in the last over was desperate to take the glory shot but was caught out by Yamin at deep point.
The top bowlers from the Kings' side were Aamer Yamin and Umer Khan with two wickets apiece. Mohammad Amir and Usman Shinwari took one wicket each.
Line-ups
Karachi Kings: Babar Azam, C Munro, LS Livingstone, CA Ingram, BR Dunk, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim (c), Aamer Yamin, Mohammad Amir, Umer Khan, Usman Shinwari
Islamabad United: L Ronchi, CS Delport, AD Hales, CAK Walton, Asif Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Hussain Talat, Mohammad Sami (c), Muhammad Musa, Rumman Raees, Shadab Khan. TN

PSL 2019: Watson takes Gladiators to the finals, defeats Zalmi

ICMD, March 13, 2019
Quetta Gladiators defeated Peshawar Zalmi by 10 runs in the Qualifier round of Pakistan Super League 4 on Wednesday, thereby qualifying for the finals later this week.
The game was completely changed in the last over owing to Shane Watson who, despite not having bowled in the tournament, performed remarkably taking the two most important wickets and breaking the partnership of Kieron Pollard and Darren Sammy back-to-back.
Quetta's innings
After Zalmi won the toss and opted to field first, they dealt an early blow to the Gladiators, dismissing their in-form opener Ahmed Shehzad (1 off 4 balls) in just the 2nd over.
But the Gladiators were stacked in in-form-openers department. With Shehzad gone, Shane Watson took charge, hitting Peshawar Zalmi bowlers almost at will. Watson and Ahsan Ali took the score to 53-1 after 5 overs and 96-1 after 10.
The Gladiators finished their innings at 186-6. Man-of-the-match Watson led the scoreboard with a 71-run knock followed by Ali with 46 runs.
Wahab Riaz picked up two wickets for Zalmi while Sameen Gul, KA Pollard, TS Mills and Hasan Ali each picked up a single wicket.
Peshawar's innings
The first wicket for Zalmi fell in the sixth over of the innings with Kamran Akmal out at 22.
Captain Darren Sammy remained the lead scorer for Zalmi (46) until he was run out by Sarfaraz. His 21-ball knock was supported by KA Pollard, who contributed 44 runs to his team's total.
The 'Yellow Storm' as they are known were 107-5 at the end of 15 overs in pursuit of the 187-run target.
As the overs went by, Zalmi lost two more wickets. Wahab Riaz and Hasan Ali, both not out, faced three balls between them and contributed as many runs.
Zalmi finished their innings with 176 runs on the scoreboard at the end of 20 overs, 10 runs shy of their goal, and the match thus went to the Gladiators.
For Quetta, Mohammad Hasnain took two wickets while Rilee Rossouw, Mohammad Nawaz, Ahsan Ali and Watson picked up one wicket each.

PSL 2019: Peshawar Zalmi beat Karachi Kings by 61 runs

ICMD, March 11, 2019
Peshawar Zalmi recorded a 61-run win against Karachi Kings in their Pakistan Super League 2019 clash at the National Stadium in Karachi on Monday.
Karachi was unable to reach the 204-run target set by Zalmi despite a 71-run knock by CA Ingram.
As a result of the win, Zalmi is now at the top of the PSL points table.
Peshwar Zalmi innings
Earlier, the Kings won the toss, and as many toss winners have done so far in PSL 2019, opted to field first.
The decision appeared the backfire as Zalmi openers Kamran Akmal and Imamul Haq provided their side a flying start.
At the end of the innings, Zalmi were 203-7. Akmal put 86 runs on the scoreboard off 48 balls while Haq added 59 runs.
Akmal smacked 6 fours and 3 sixes on his way to a 50 in just the 8th over of the match.
Mohammad Amir picked up three wickets for the Kings while C Munro picked up two and Usman Shinwari took a single wicket.
Karachi Kings innings
Karachi was unable to reach the 204-run target set by Peshawar after an 86-run knock by Akmal.
The Kings lost the wickets of C Munro, Mohammad Amir and Umer Khan at ducks while Usman Shinwari was not out for zero runs at the end of the match. Karachi also lost the wicket of Sohail Khan for one run.
Hasan Ali picked up three wickets for Zalmi while Sameen Gul, TS Mills and Wahab Riaz each took two wickets.

Last-over 3 wickets by Shinwari lead Karachi Kings to 4th season

KARACHI: ICMD, March 10, 2019 -
Karachi Kings beat Quetta Gladiators by 1 run as Usman Shinwari changing the game for the home team by taking three wickets in the last over and thus led his team to the next round of Pakistan Super League (PSL) fourth season.
While Quetta Gladiators had an outstanding inning with Ahmed Shehzad getting on the edge of his century before getting bowled out, just one run away, they couldn't keep up the pace of the Kings who performed well under pressure of qualifying for the playoffs.
Despite being given ample pressure by Quetta Gladiators who fielded remarkably, Karachi Kings managed to get a good score of 190 in the first innings.
Even with the five wickets that were knocked down, the total reached a substantial figure but not quite as incredible as the one set by Islamabad United in last night’s match of 239 runs against Lahore Qalanders.
Babar Azam and Colin Ingram delivered a fair performance for the Kings before being sent back to the hut. It was Iftikhar Ahmed who took charge in the final overs, scoring doubles, boundaries, and sixers to reach the final tally of 190 with the loss of five wickets.
Karachi's win today is making things even more difficult for Lahore Qalanders who's chances of going to the next round are getting slimmer.

How cool are they looking in traditional turban!

ICMD, March 10, 2019:
With Pakistan Super League (PSL) coming home for its final leg, top overseas cricketers from Quetta Gladiators who landed in the city were given a warm and hearty welcome on Saturday.
The official Twitter handle of Quetta Gladiators revealed the wholehearted reception given by the team’s management to the overseas players donning traditional turbans.
“The Quetta Gladiators foreign contingent has landed in Karachi. How cool are they looking in traditional turban??”, stated their official Twitter handle.
Australian all-rounder Shane Watson, West Indies cricket icon Vivian Richards, DJ Bravo and other members of the team radiated and looked energized to kick start their Karachi leg against the city’s official team itself today.
The Gladiators are presently topping the table having won eight matches out of the nine played while losing one, which has enabled them to qualify for the playoffs along with Peshawar Zalmi.-- TN

PSL: Lahore matches moved to Karachi

ICMD, March 3, 2019
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Sunday announced that all three matches of the Pakistan Super League 2019 which were to be staged in Lahore will now be held in Karachi.
A PCB press release said that the matches which were scheduled to be held in Lahore were moved to Karachi due to logistical and operational challenges posed by the "delayed opening of Lahore airspace for commercial flights".
The press release stated that some of the key challenges the PCB faced due to the airspace issue included "securing production equipment and the commitment of broadcast crew, as well as finalising the logistics for the officials and teams."
All eight matches in the Pakistan leg of the tournament will be played at National Stadium from March 9-17, the press release said.
PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani said, "Due to the recent and prevailing uncertainty, we felt it critical to make a decisive decision at this juncture." He regretted that that the "headquarters of Pakistan cricket will be unable to host the PSL matches in 2019 due to no fault of the PCB".
"This has been a difficult and tough decision, which has been taken following discussion and consultation with all the franchisees and service providers to ensure certainty and clarity on the event, as well as delivery of the remaining matches," the statement quoted Mani as saying.
The PCB chief said the body had considered shifting the dates of the Pakistan matches, but it was not possible since the green shirts are slated to leave for the United Arab Emirates on March 19 to play a One Day International series against Australia.
"We also looked at swapping matches between Lahore and Karachi, but paucity of time would have rendered this option unworkable," he added.
Mani stated that all franchisees had backed the decision and reinforced that "all their foreign players will feature in the last eight matches" of the PSL.